


Alya’s Day of the Dead Party

by Lady_LB



Series: Halloween Stories [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is not so dense, Costumes, Crack Treated Seriously, Día de los Muertos | Day of the Dead, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Halloween, Identity Issues, Identity Reveal, Kagami is a good friend, Luka knows, Max knows, Moving On, Multimouse, Party, Post-Season/Series 03, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, So is Luka, Some Humor, Some Plot, adrienette - Freeform, celebration, ends with, lukagami, plus a touch of, some lukanette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-01-16 23:09:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21279272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_LB/pseuds/Lady_LB
Summary: After the Battle of the Miraculous, Alya hosts a party for her friends to celebrate the lesser known holiday of Dia De Los Muertos in her own way, to mourn the loss of their identities, to remember where they have come from and to look forward to the future with hope in their hearts as they move on.Also, Adrien gets slapped with some purple wings and becomes an akuma…





	1. Why should we celebrate?

**Author's Note:**

> 🚩 Warning: 🚩  
Lots of references to the end of season 3, The Battle of the Miraculous, KwamiBuster etc.  
Also, set after Season 3 before season 4 (minus the episode Felix)
> 
> You've been warned!
> 
> Note from the author...  
I was having trouble finishing the Halloween story I started, (it's going to remain on my pile of what ifs) so I was inspired to write this short and somewhat silly serious story that just kept growing instead as I got over my writer's block for my other stories...
> 
> Obviously I don't own Miraculous Ladybug or the characters etc, if I did I would have released the episodes in order.
> 
> That being said, the characters are owned by the miraculous creators and owners of the show Miraculous Ladybug.

Marinette looked around the room, smiling yet crying on the inside at the unintentional reminder that she’d lost all of her temporary partners and that Chat Noir and Ladybug were alone again in their fight against Hawkmoth.

She wished Luka was by her side, he’d been so helpful and supportive of late, but he hadn’t found her yet.

Marinette knew that Alya didn’t mean anything negative by her party, she wasn’t like that, but it was almost like she was dancing on the graves of who they were and Marinette just didn’t get that.

Marinette finally and sadly asked Alya, who was wearing something that reminded her of Rena Rouge, after she directed people to put their pictures on the table and shelf nearby, “Why did you ask everyone to come with a picture of their not so secret identity and dress up as them if they could?”

Adrien arrived with Kagami on his arm just then and overheard, so he added, “yeah, I don’t get it either.”

“Well, you threw a party for Queen Bee of all people Marinette, may she rest in peace,” Alya crossed herself as if she was speaking of the devil with a wicked grin before she continued, “I just wanted to celebrate all the good that we’ve done and remember our roots.”

“Yeah totally.” Nino, dressed as either Carapace or a Ninga Turtle, joined in as he adjusted the speakers to his DJ setup for dancing later nearby. “This isn’t like a mourning thing either, Alya did some research and this Dia de Los Muertos thing is to celebrate life Dude, both the past, it’s connection to the present and how it affects the future.”

“It’s kind of like a Halloween thing, but it’s more of a separate holiday and more of a spiritual thing.” Alya nodded, “so that’s why I also asked people to also bring photos or dress as their akumatized persona if they were an akuma if they weren't a hero.”

Marinette swallowed as she fiddled with the butterfly shaped glasses in her hands that she had made that lit up from a glowstick necklace inside, they looked frightfully real to her and she still didn’t know why Alya requested that she make or wear such a thing.

“I still don’t get it.” Marinette commented sadly, “I mean, while you all did wonderful jobs as super heroes, now that your secret identity is known, how can Ladybug safely bring you a Miraculous?”

Alya folded her arms and smiled at Marinette, “Marinette, Marinette, Marinette! That’s just the point! It’s not like it’s the end, maybe a temporary end of how things once were true…”

She looked over at Nino who finished for her, “but it’s also a place for good things to begin. I mean, it’s not like the people that Ladybug trusted can’t wear another miraculous, have you ever thought of that?”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous though?” Kagami asked, dressed in her red fencing outfit, with a headpiece that mimicked the horns she had as the wearer of the Dragon Miraculous and a temporary patch on her chest to make her look more like her heroic self.

“Well, that’s up to Ladybug herself. I mean, we’ve got all the other heroes here besides Ladybug and Chat Noir and if the footage of the Battle of the Miraculous wasn’t lying, a Miraculous doesn’t just belong to one person, it can be used by different people.”

“That’s correct.” A Pegasus themed Max offered, “obviously Ladybug was also wearing the Dragon Miraculous and Chat Noir used the Snake Miraculous. That means it’s possible for say, Alya, to use the Bee Miraculous.”

Alya snorted and received a few laughs as she said, “ugh, that would be ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!” Just like Chloe would, who was the only person missing from the class since even Sabrina was there. After a pause she added though with a smirk, “although I wouldn’t be against being the next Carapace.”

“Babe, I think you’d be called Miss Tortuga if that happened.” Nino teased as he started some background music.

Alya laughed, “look, the Day of the Dead isn’t just a solemn holiday in Mexico, it's the celebration of what was and how life goes on and that’s what I wanted us to remember.” She waved at the photos propped up nearby, “this party is my own interpretation of the holiday really.”

Marinette smiled and wiped a tear away from her face, touched by her friend’s thoughtfulness. Luka came up and stood beside her, wearing tight green jeans, a green hoodie over a tight light green shirt with muscles drawn on it with a fabric marker. Marinette had to admit, Luka could make anything look good.

“Hey Marinette, it’s so good to see you.” Luka put his hand on her shoulder supportively and said with a small grin, “I kind of wish that we could tell Ladybug about this party. It’s not just a celebration about how we were saved after being forced to be villains, or even how we were heroes. Since that’s now over, it's more about how we chose to fight as heroes, and how we’ll keep fighting.” He gave her shoulder a slight squeeze for emphasis, “Ladybug and Chat Noir aren’t alone, we’ll be here if they need us.”

“I think that she’d, I mean they,” she looked up at Luka gratefully but then got embarrassed and looked away as she softly said with a sniff, “that they would really like the idea.”

“Are you okay Marinette?” Luka softly asked as Adrien was about to.

Adrien frowned slightly at Luka and added, “is it because you don’t have a costume?” Which was kind of off topic.

Marinette rolled her eyes and laughed, “oh, I’ve got a costume.” She held up the glowing butterfly glasses that Alya had told her to bring and put them on. “I’m the akumatized victim apparently about to be transformed.”

“Ah, the prettiest victim ever.” Luka smiled at her and Marinette just blushed.

Marinette whispered a quiet, “thanks.”

“Yep! Marinette is the hope of how someday that will never happen to anyone ever again!” Alya agreed with Marinette loudly as she slipped beside Adrien and clipped something to his hair.

“Hey! What are you?...” His voice drifted off as he looked in a nearby mirror, as Kagami covered her mouth with her free hand and giggled prettily as Adrien snorted loudly before laughing at the irony of the situation.

Alya had pinned a large purple butterfly hair clip with fluttery wings to him.

“I’m the akuma, aren’t I?” Adrien snickered as everyone joined in, laughing as well at Alya’s brilliance.

“Totally Dude! Hopefully also something that will be in the past someday! Like all of the ones Ladybug and Chat Noir have already defeated!” Nino answered.

“Alright!” Alya called out, but was drowned out by their classmates and a few other teenage former akumatized victims chatter. So, Alya turned to her sister, their chaperone for the evening, who was also wearing an interesting spider costume, “some help here please?”

Anasazi laughed from across the room once and then let out an ear shattering whistle, “quiet down everyone! Time to listen to your host!”

“Alright everyone! You know why we’re here, now before we get down to the partying part, I want everyone to take a moment to think about what came before today, whether it was your life as a hero or the effects of having been akumatized.”

She cleared her throat, “so just to be clear, let’s remember yesterday fondly, learn from the past as we live in the moment and look onward with hope in the future! We're going to treat this seriously for just one minute of remembrance here guys… starting NOW!” She looked down at her phone and they had a moment of silence as they thought about, well, everything.

“Alright everyone!” Alya called out after the minute had passed, “we know where we’ve been and we’re here now, so let’s celebrate getting here and look forward to a better future as we remember our roots!”

“Which means it’s time to PARTY!” Nino called out as he turned up the music.

They all divided up into groups to chat or dance as Marinette found herself surrounded by Adrien, Kagami, Alya and of course Luka, who had become one of her greatest supports since she’d become guardian, not that he knew that part, although she suspected that he probably thought that she was Ladybug. He’d given enough hints about it, but never pressed the issue.

Luka had already brought her a drink from the snack table that she was sipping from as he stood beside her, sharing his calm presence with her as he usually would.

After a few minutes of conversation, Luka wasn’t the only one that noticed that Adrien was looking at Marinette weirdly.

Alya smirked thinking that maybe he was regretting not giving Marinette the chance that he’d been giving Kagami of late. “Something on your mind Sunshine?”

Adrien rubbed his neck nervously, “I was just thinking, why didn’t you dress up as Multimouse Marinette?”


	2. Identity Shenaigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien asked Marinette why she wasn't dressed as Multimouse, which leads to some awkward conversation...

To say that Marinette was shocked to say the least when Adrien had asked, ‘why didn’t you dress up as Multimouse Marinette?’ Was, well, that… that was an understatement.

Marinette barely turned around in time to do her own personal spit take as she sprayed her drink in shock at the mention of her other lesser known identity so she wouldn’t get anyone soaked. Anazai laughed and came over with a bucket and mop and cleaned it up quickly before going back to challenge Kim in his Monkey costume to another arm wrestle.

Marinette managed to thank her through her coughs as she sputtered, wiped her mouth and nose (soda pop through the nose is NOT recommended) and after her friends finally finished laughing, Marinette asked, “wa-what? H-How did you-you know about that A-Adrein?!”

“Oh, uh,” Adrien looked a little distressed as he came up with the excuse as he rubbed his back, “I’ve run across Chat Noir a few times, yeah, and he knew that you’re my friend. So, uh, the last time I saw him he mentioned that you did an excellent job as a miraculous holder, as Multimouse, but it was such a pity that you didn’t remember to hide your identity.”

Marinette chuckled awkwardly as she glanced at Alya who protested, “wait, what? Marinette! You never told me?!”

Marinette shrugged, “I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone! And-and why would Chat Noir tell you that A-Adrien?” She asked hurriedly, trying to change the course of the conversation as she waved her hands dramatically. “It was a secret! I mean, sure I accidentally showed him but that doesn’t mean that I-I…” Marinette bit her lip and eyed Adrien suspiciously as she was interrupted.

“Nope, uh, ah. You are not changing the topic. When did this happen?” Alya insisted.

Marinette glared for a moment at Adrien who apologized silently by mouthing, ‘sorry,’ for mentioning it.

Alya only looked at her expectantly waiting for an explanation.

Marinette pouted as Luka chuckled with a one shoulder shrug, “you might as well just tell us what you can about it to get it over with Marinette, you know how your friend can be.”

“Don’t I know it!” Marinette softly groaned before giving in, “it was with Kwami Buster.”

Then she began to ramble as she spoke with her hands, “I mean, Ladybug gave me the Mouse miraculous to become Multimouse so I could borrow Chat Noir’s miraculous and slip into her vacuum to destroy it from the inside since I was like two centimeters tall and there was like over a dozen of me. After that I made the mistake of de-transforming in front of Chat Noir after returning his ring once all of me were put back together and now I can never be Multimouse again.”

“Oh WOW! Really!?” Alya gushed, “that would mean that you were the first person to use two miraculous at once, oh you’ve got to give me an interview for the Ladyblog! This will be better than the interviews with Lila!”

Marinette grimaced at the mention of her nemesis, but was grateful that she was missing from the party. Some sort of charity duty with some Prince or other.

“Alya! No! It’s too dangerous.” Marinette objected, “like you just pointed out, maybe Ladybug will want to trust me again with another one and uh,” Marinette swallowed as she knew that she had to address the obvious as she twiddled her fingers, “I think I was the only one that wasn’t seen at the Battle of the Miraculous?”

Everyone’s eyes went big as they realized that she was right, she was the only one that hadn’t shown up as a previous wielder of a Miraculous when called to do so by Chloe who was working for Hawkmoth at the time.

“Yeah, why is that?” Adrien asked suspiciously, “I mean, wasn’t everyone that had a miraculous called to show themselves when Chloe was akumatized?”

Marinette nervously twiddled her fingers again, “ah, about that, it’s embarrassing.”

“It’s okay Marinette, you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.” Luka offered, only to be given a death stare by Alya who wanted her answer.

Luka of course didn’t shrink from her glare as the rest of them did instinctively, nothing rattled him it seemed when it didn’t involve Marinette being in danger. He only smiled in return, cocked his head with a slight raise of his eyebrow as he held onto Marinette’s shoulder supportively.

“You know that you can trust us Marinette.” Kagami spoke up, “we are your friends.”

“No, it’s-it’s okay.” Marinette stuttered before glaring at her best friend and then letting out a sigh, “it’s true that Alya won’t leave me alone unless I tell her.”

“That’s right!” Alya eagerly agreed.

Marinette exhaled again, “alright fine, I’ll tell you, if you keep my name out of your article and don’t mention me using two miraculous at once when I was Multimouse or that I was her. I don’t want Hawkmoth to come after me, my friends or my family because of that.”

“But Lila…”

Marinette rolled her eyes at the comparison and said sternly, “I am not Lila. Ladybug trusted me, not her, and I’m not about to draw attention to myself foolishly.”

Alya of course ignored the not so subtle dig at Lila as she replied, “ugh, fine, but only for you Marinette.” Alya gave in, “so how did you stay safe from Chloe’s swarm?”

After a quick glance at Luka and then Adrien, she started making motions with her hands once more, “I ah…ah, well, you see, it’s like this, um, that, ah…”

Luka reached out and held onto her hands to ground her. She looked up at him gratefully before she swallowed and looked at Alya as she quickly told her friend, “after Luka saved me from being hit, I saw the swarm. I really couldn’t have done it without him and the only thing I could think of was…” Marinette blushed deeply as she glanced at the guy that was now holding her hands, “was to run home, s-strip and jump in the shower!”

It was Nino and Nathaniel who choked on their drinks this time. Apparently, Nathaniel and Marc had been listening in nearby.

“Nope, not thinking about that!” Nino shook himself as he returned to his DJing duties.

Everyone was blushing furiously. Except Luka, whose eyes went out of focus for a few seconds as he somehow managed to maintain the small smile on his face. As he refocused on her, his blush, which while dark for him, was nothing compared to the astonished and embarrassed looks on all of the other guys, especially Adrien who was now rubbing his neck like he had a rash.

“W-Wow, Marinette, it’s a-amazing that you taught, I mean thought about th-that!” Adrien sputtered, as did Nathaniel and it didn’t seem like either of them would be able to speak normally for a few minutes.

Marinette rolled her eyes and gave Alya a look, “ugh! Satisfied?”

Alya nodded, “oh, totally! I won’t mention you or THAT in my article, no matter what!”

Marinette let go of Luka and put her face in her hands after she glanced at the very red-faced Adrien who was still sputtering and the red-faced Nathaniel, who was being led further away by Marc to get some fresh air.

Marinette softly whined, “this is a disaster, a total disaster!”

Luka chuckled as he pulled her hands down from her face and squeezed them to help her calm down, “no it’s not. That was brilliant of you Marinette, even if it was a little embarrassing. Imagine if you had been stung too!”

Now Luka looked up, alarmed despite his enduring blush as he seemed to think about it, “I-I mean, it was a good thing that you weren’t. You’d probably be enough of a handful by yourself for the heroes.” Then he shot her a knowing smirk and a very subtle and uncharacteristic wink, “and then Paris would have been lost!”

Adrien finally pulled himself together and then coughed at their display as a pouting Kagami patted his back supportively. “Y-yeah, you’d have been uh, um, t-too much to handle?!”

“Especially since she was in the shower when it happened!” Alya teased, “ALL in the buff!”

“Alya!” Marinette squeaked as Adrien and Nino coughed and the former turned beet red again, Luka wasn’t far behind either.

Kagami shook her head and patted Adrien’s back again.

Marinette blushed and just held onto one of Luka’s hands for support, not that he was complaining as he just grinned happily that she was turning to him for support besides the fact that he kept blushing at Alya’s words.

“Not to change the subject.” Max offered, who seemed to be the only boy not totally demolished by Marinette’s story and seemed to just appear, having been hovering nearby, “but I was wondering if there was some sort of significance to the distribution of the miraculous.”

“Why would you say that?” Marinette sighed, thinking her embarrassment for the evening was hopefully over.

Max shrugged, “well, it seems like some miraculous holders have wound up partnered with each other.”

“What do you mean Max?” Alya asked with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, it’s obvious with the chemistry between Chat Noir and Ladybug that THAT ship is inevitable…” both Marinette and Adrien looked away from the group and Luka was just all smiles as usual as Alya went on, “but what do you mean?”

Max pushed up his glasses on his nose as he pointed out, “well, I was just thinking about it. I mean Rena Rouge and Carapace wound up dating as civilians, reminiscent of the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, err, I mean the Turtle and the fox, where they were in the same story together. Then now to hear about Multimouse…” he looked at Luka who chuckled lightly as he seemed to catch on, “I mean, you seem to be pretty close to the wielder of the Snake Miraculous Marinette.”

“Why is that an issue?” Kagami looked perplexed.

Marinette giggled almost hysterically, as she caught on and waved it off. “Well, it IS common knowledge that snakes eat mice.” Then she turned to Luka and asked jokingly as she gently patted his arm and then letting her hand rest on his bicep, “do I have to worry about you eating me?”

“No, but I may try to hunt you down, I mean you are quite the catch.” Luka grinned at her only to make her blush further as several people laughed before he gently added as he noticed how that made her blush like her Ladybug suit, “I’m sorry, that was too much wasn’t it?”

Luka swallowed and leaned down to whisper only for her, not knowing that Adrien with his cat like tendencies could over hear, “I’d only chase after you if that’s what you wanted Marinette, that is, if you don’t mind?”

Marinette shook her head and rolled her eyes as she gently answered back, “how could I?”

“Wait a minute!” Rose came over with a bright smile, in a costume reminiscent of Princess Fragrance since apparently everyone in the room was listening in somewhat, and she squeaked out, “wouldn’t that mean that Marinette would be also be good partner for Chat Noir too?”

Adrien’s eyes went wide at that comment, although he didn’t say a thing besides blushing slightly.

“Well, that is if you go by the association by prey and predator.” Max noted, “however, Chat Noir and Ladybug are also related to each other by their mythological representations of good and bad luck, which would only make sense if Marinette was also Ladybug.” Max cocked his head as he seemed to think about it.

Marinette coughed, “wait, what? Who? ME? Why would you think that?!”

Everyone was silent for a moment and it was ironic that there was a pregnant pause in the air as even the music went silent as the song switched to something new.

Then nearly everyone laughed heartily.

“Marinette! AS, AS LADYBUG! Gurl! There’s like no WAY!” Alya proclaimed.

“Dude, no, no way!” Nino heartily shook off the idea as well.

“She is nice enough, but she’s WAY too clumsy!”

“She’d just as pretty, but she’d probably wind up hitting someone on the head with her yo-yo!” Someone jokingly laughed, not knowing that that happened on almost a regular basis for Chat Noir. Adrien gave them an alarmed look, before staring at Marinette with wide eyes.

“Woah.” Adrien breathed, as Max started to spout facts.

“Despite her height and body type being identical to Ladybug and knowing about Marinette’s struggle with her clumsiness, the chances of her being Ladybug is less than 15%.” Max added with a sly grin, but then he added, “and that’s not counting the time that she was seen with Ladybug during Timebreaker. Which only reduces the odds of her being Ladybug to 1.98%.”

Then Max turned to Marinette, “which of course is not including the time that you were Multimouse and fought beside her, assuming that you did.”

Max looked at Adrien for confirmation, “they did fight together didn’t they? No illusions or magic involved to make one of them look like Ladybug?”

Adrein’s eyes ironically bugged out as he choked out a, “YEAH! I-I mean yeah. Th-that was how Chat Noir described it!”

Max’s eyes grew smaller as he seemed to connect something, “hmm.” Then he tapped his chin, “unless of course there was a way to make it look like Marinette and Ladybug were there together, but that would have to be some sort of massive illusion to fool Chat Noir and everyone else at both of the aforementioned episodes. Even Ladybug couldn’t do that? I-I mean, the possibility would be astronomical!”

Alya just laughed, “no kidding Max. While I admit that THAT would be amazing, it would take a miracle for Marinette to be LADYBUG!” She held her sides as she gave off another laugh, “I mean, I would totally know if she was her! Marinette isn’t that good at hiding secrets.”

Adrien got nervous as Alya glanced at him with a smirk and then back at Marinette.

“Alya! That’s not true! I’m great about hiding secrets!”

Max rolled his eyes and muttered something about going to get a drink as he subtly left.

“Of course, you are Marinette.” Alya said in a disbelieving voice as she shook her head and held one hand to her forehead, “that’s why everyone knows about your crush.”

“ALYA!” Marinette shrieked before she swallowed as she nervously looked away, “I’m getting over that, he-he doesn’t like me that way, so please stop bringing it up.”

“Marinette, you like someone?” Adrien asked, “why don’t you tell us? Then we could help you to get together with him,” then he bashfully added, “I mean, uh, who would turn you down?”

Kagami let go of his arm, as she almost sadly stated, “excuse me, but I believe I need to go to the restroom.”

Adrien turned to watch her leave abruptly as he asked out loud, “Kagami?” Not knowing what he said.

Alya shook her head, as did Nino who only muttered, “Dude.”

Marinette’s eyes dimmed as she looked at the ground as she let go of Luka’s hands and hugged herself. Luka drew closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder supportively, without saying anything as he gently guided her away from their group for a minute.

“Did, did I say something?” Adrien wondered out loud as he turned to Nino for help.

Nino shook his head, “Dude, just, ah, Dude. When you’re somewhere with a girl, well?” Nino looked at Alya for help.

“It’s not good to compliment other girls like that Adrien, especially when they’re just a friend.”

“But, Marinette’s not just a friend, she’s a really good friend. Kagami knows that.” Adrien pointed out.

“Well yeah Dude, but the way that you said it, if Marinette asked you out, you wouldn’t say no to her either.”

“Well, I wouldn’t, we’re friends. Really good friends.”

“Babe, is he always’s like this?” Alya asked Nino, who shrugged.

“Dude’s pretty oblivious.”

“I am not!” Adrien objected.

“Alright, then follow me here Dude, since you’re my Bro. You came here with Kagami, you’ve been spending a lot of time with Kagami, she hangs off of you like you’re going out as a boyfriend and girlfriend and then you say something that sounds like you’d date Marinette if she asked?”

“What?!” Adrien exclaimed, “I-I’m not dating Kagami, we’re just…”

“Really good friends.” Alya and Nino finished for him.

“And that my friend is the problem. By your own words, you see Marinette the same way but wouldn’t be able to say no to her if SHE asked you out.” Nino pointed out as he glanced towards where Kagami had disappeared to, “not to pry Dude, but just by the way she reacted, it looks like Kagami let you know how she feels about you, but you didn’t react like that. Like you wouldn't be willing to commit to her like that.”

“But? But…” Adrien stuttered as he thought about it, and realized that they were probably right.

“I can’t help it, doesn’t everyone like Marinette? I mean, who would turn her down, she’s our Everyday Ladybug?” Adrien then swallowed, “besides, she’s a really good friend and she doesn’t see me that way. Kagami likes me and it’s nice to spend time with someone that likes you. Is that a crime?”

“No Dude, it’s not.” Nino answered.

“I still don’t understand what the problem was with Kagami.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “And that right there is the problem Adrien. You may not realize it, but you’re with Kagami.”

“Well, kind of yeah, but just as really good friends.” Adrien nervously rubbed the back of his head, “she does want to kiss me, and I kind of want to kiss her, but I’m not ready for that.”

“That, that right there!” Alya points at him, “that means that while you like hanging out, you’re just friends with her and that you don’t want to be more.”

Adrien frowned and stepped closer to them to whisper after he decided to be as honest as he could, “Alya, Nino, I’m going to tell you something. I’ve been in love with an amazing girl that I’ve worked with for the longest time, but she kept rejecting me. It hurt. So, I’ve been trying to explore other relationships, like the one with Kagami.” Adrien looked embarrassed as he looked away, “she did try to kiss me once, but I, I wasn’t ready.”

“Dude. That explains so much.” Nino muttered.

“Yeah, but Sunshine, you’ve got to remember that if you don’t want to kiss her, you probably ARE just really good friends.” Alya pointed out. “So, tell me, if you had the chance, assuming she was totally willing, how would you feel about kissing Marinette? Not her kissing you, but you leaning in and kissing HER?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah, Luka knows, Max figured something out and Adrien... well, Adrien is wondering if there is something more to Marinette than meets the eye.
> 
> There will be another chapter, because we all know I'm not great about keeping things short lol.


	3. Laugh it up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien is forced to think about some things and may be seeing something he really doesn't want to see...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter clocks in at over 3000+ words, sorry but it was hard to find a stopping place lol.   
Hopefully I'll be able to not add more to the future chapter count either, sometimes a story gets a mind of it's own and it just has to go a certain way. Hope to have at least this story done before New Years. No promises on my other stories.  
Enjoy!

Adrien was pulling a blank, he’d never really thought about leaning in to kiss Marinette like Alya suggested, had he?

Then he remembered.

If only Alya hadn’t reminded him, he could have gone on blissfully without the memory.

Adrien had never thought about kissing Marinette before except for that one monster video Nino wanted to make, which resulted in Mylene becoming the Horrificator. Before that happened, Adrien had been interrupted from kissing Marinette by Chloe, who only seemed to want the part Marinette filled so she could kiss him herself. Frankly, Adrien had been so glad that it was Marinette at the time and he surprised himself when he remembered that he had looked forward to the excuse to kiss Marinette for some reason.

Kissing the prettiest girl in class with an excuse like for a movie sounded good to him at the time. Then Adrien thought back, _yeah, that was really what I was thinking huh?_

Then he wondered if that was how he really felt. _You don’t think about looking forward to kissing a friend like that do you? I didn’t understand that at the time, huh. _

_I guess the question is do I like her?_ Adrien took the time to mentally ask himself,_ as…as more than just a friend? _

Of course, Adrien remembered that planning on kissing Mylene, the original lead for the movie, had been intimidating, even if it was just part of the script. Mylene must have had plenty of practice with her boyfriend after all and Adrien felt even weirder about it because of that and because her boyfriend had been standing right there!

_It’s not like it was a real kiss right? We just have to make it look that way. _Adrien remembered mentally telling himself those thoughts exactly when he was faced with the task of kissing Mylene. _I promised Nino I’d help, that’s why I was willing to do it._

Adrien knew that he had had practice acting, but not kissing. It had been uncomfortable thinking of kissing anyone really and it came with a range of emotions, from absolutely unthinkable like with Chloe, even if it was for a movie, to unsure and uncomfortable with Mylene.

_But with Marinette? For some reason, I wasn’t stressed about it like I was with them. I, I might have even liked the idea._ Adrien’s eyes went wide as he admitted that to himself, not knowing that he was blushing slightly. _No wonder Plagg teases me about Marinette, I probably wouldn’t think of her as the prettiest girl in class either if I didn’t find her, ah, attractive somehow. Huh._

Then Adrien glanced up and gulped as he saw the scheming look in Alya’s eyes as he realized that he had taken way too long to respond. Which made him feel very relieved when Kagami, Max, Luka and Marinette came back, saving him from Alya’s interrogation.

Not that Adrien knew how to answer Alya in the first place. _How would I respond to that kind of situation? Of getting the chance to kiss Marinette again, as if she’d want me to or if I’d ever get to, or umm, if the opportunity ever came up without it being a betrayal of my Lady, or, or is it? _

As he thought about it, he knew that logically he knew he could kiss anyone, since Adrien or Chat Noir wasn’t with Ladybug, but kissing someone else, including Kagami, didn’t feel, well, natural.

Adrien swallowed as he thought about it until he felt a little nauseous. _Why do I feel okay with the thought of kissing Marinette and, and not Kagami? _

Alya cleared her throat catching his attention once more, “WELL, now that THAT is over,” she grinned at him mischievously, and Adrien frowned briefly at Alya as Kagami stood by his side and took his hand. Strangely, holding Kagami’s hand didn’t really cause him to feel all lovey dovey either. Holding his Lady’s or even Marinette’s hand, well, it felt better by comparison for some reason.

Adrien shook his head at himself and tried to listen to Alya as she jumped to the same topic that made Marinette nervous before, “so, now what do we think about this theory that Marinette could be Ladybug?”

Adrien blinked and his face fell a little as he pondered, _what if she was? She is miraculous after all, she could do it, be both, right? And, and we’re just really good friends, right? Why would she ever want me? Like, like my Lady? _

Adrien glanced at Kagami who was listening intently, _she’s so focused that way. _Adrien mused_. She wants me to be more than really good friends with her, but I don’t know if I’m capable of it or if I even want our relationship to be like that. That’s not fair to her, or to me._

Marinette interrupted his thoughts as she whined a little, “uhh, thanks for the topic change Alya, but really? Is that the best you can do?” She looked up at her best friend, the hurt apparent in her eyes. Apparently, it wasn’t a better option than what they had been talking about earlier. For some reason, Adrien’s suggestion that they help Marinette get together with her mysterious crush that she was trying to get over hadn’t gone over well for her either.

_Huh._

Marinette was still hugging herself for some reason and Luka was standing very close to her.

_Which is weird, _Adrien decided_, I mean, what guy wouldn’t be lucky to be with Marinette? It doesn’t make sense though, since Luka is right there. He’s a little too close to her if you ask me if they’re not together, which now that I think about it, getting over a crush could mean she’s getting over Luka or, or could it be someone else? Maybe Luka is trying to make a move? No, he’s not like that, he’s just being a good friend, right?_

“Well, I could be wrong, but there’s a 85.9%, no 93.9% chance that I am, wrong I mean. A-about her possibly being the heroine.” Max allowed before he coughed unnaturally as he tried to back off from the idea, and waved the idea off. “Not that the numbers are always correct. S-surely Marinette has a reason to be missing whenever Labybug a-appears, right?”

A few people gave Max an odd look, normally he was much more assertive about his calculations and never stuttered. Markov was floating behind Max and just blinked, apparently Max had talked to him about something or other and for once, the robot was content to just watch instead of spouting more facts to back up his friend. Either that or Max had disconnected his voice circuits again, but usually Markov would fix that himself.

_Huh._

Adrien’s eyes went wide once more as he eyed the nervous Marinette as she waved off the idea dramatically in that cute way of hers that there was no way that SHE could be Ladybug.

_She’s really trying to prove that she’s not my Lady, huh? Of course, I KNOW my Lady… has… a… clumsy side. Just. Like. Marinette._

…

“No-no-no way! Me being Ladybug? H-How silly is th-that?” Marinette practically squealed as she loosened her grip on herself and waved her hands dramatically. “The likelihood that I could be her has to be like 0% Max. I mean, ah, I’m scared of the akuma attacks! I always run and hide or run home to be safe.” She then laughed awkwardly.

Luka smiled softly at her and patted her shoulder, trying to calm her down again. Adrien giving the conversation his full attention, or so it seemed since his model smile was a bit off.

Marinette pouted as she tried to act more Marinettish by waving her hands dramatically like a windmill that was powered by caffeine in a windstorm as she mentally chanted, _see?_ _I am NOT Ladybug. How could I be? Can’t you see that? Just Marinette here. Nope, she’s not me!_

“I’m sorry, I can’t say that it’s completely impossible for certain.” Max told her apologetically as he fixed his prescription shades that he wore for his costume, “there are no 100% chances when it involves magic.” He then coughed into his hand and waved at Alya, “even with all the footage that Alya has taken of Ladybug, there is still a .13% chance that even she could be Ladybug.”

“Oh, well, I guess that makes sense.” Marinette muttered. _Alya would be okay as Ladybug I guess, she’s too quick to dart in though and I think she may have trouble with the Lucky Charms._

“Really? Me as Ladybug? That’d be fun huh?” Alya laughed.

Markov spoke up, “actually the numbers for Marinette being Ladybug is significantly higher than that Max.”

Marinette shook her head at Markov since everyone was looking at him now as she mentally squealed at him, not that he could hear it, _NO! Markov, don’t lead them to me!_

“Markov, you should run those figures again.” Max gave the robot a strange but stern look. “It can’t be higher than 3%, even when you account for the magical probabilities.”

“But I thought that you said that anything was possible with magic?” Markov looked as confused as a robot could be as he looked from Marinette then back to Max himself.

_Please listen to Max, _Marinette mentally begged the robot_. Hey wait a minute, why is Max trying to change his statistics?_

Marinette swallowed_; he knows. HE KNOWS! And… and he’s trying to keep my secret, or at least the high probability that it’s my secret. Oh Max, sometimes I forget how loyal you can be._

Marinette smiled to herself a little bit less nervously now as he glanced from Max to Luka._ Max is like Luka that way, trying to protect me in his own way and I’m sure he knows too. I really should talk to Luka at least about that. Max obviously is trying to avoid the possibility still._

…

Marinette still looked worried for some reason now, Adrien observed, but Luka smiled gently and offered Marinette his hand that wasn’t on her shoulder and she took it gratefully, so now the guitarist was almost embracing her somewhat. Even Adrien had to admit that Luka’s support for her lately had been invaluable after all, even he’d noticed it.

_Luka has to like her._ Adrien swallowed as he watched them. _Too? I don’t know._

Adrien had watched before at how Luka helped to ground Marinette when things got too unnerving like this conversation seemed to have done for her before.

_He’s good for her and she’s been talking clearer with me now too since she’s been hanging around Luka so much. They almost always seem to be together outside of school. How can she be getting over HIM though? That doesn’t make sense._

Adrien felt a twinge of something deep in his gut as he thought about it, _I wish we were really great friends like that._

“Max, thanks for the help and the vote of confidence, but you’re thinking WAY too hard about this.” Alya pointed out, “don’t you think that if Marinette was Ladybug that even I would know?”

Max shrugged despite himself and just kept his lips sealed.

Then Alya ironically rolled her eyes as she stated some other obvious facts, “and besides, we all know how Lila and Marinette don’t get along. Lila has told us several times about how Ladybug is her best friend, I mean, how would that even be possible if Marinette was Ladybug?”

Max nodded, “precisely! If that were the case then Ladybug, who would be Marinette, could easily call out Lila as the liar that Marinette suspects that she is, unless of course…” Max blinked before he looked at Marinette quizzically before he cleared his throat, “actually, never mind. Con-Considering all of the potential factors, it would be pre-preposterous that she could be Ladybug.”

_Oh, I am SO not going to ignore that._ Adrien internally smirked.

“That’s not a very clear answer.” Adrien noted, “no percentage Max? Really?”

Almost everyone gave him a suspicious look, save for Luka and Marinette herself who was trying to make herself look smaller somehow, she was almost cuddled up into Luka’s side now and Adrien had to hold himself back from frowning at the action, for some reason or other.

Max shook his head at Adrien, “I’ve been t-trying to teach Markov that not everything needs to be backed up with statistics.”

“That is true.” Markov hovered up and down in his version of a nod. “Particularly in social situations.”

Then Max looked at Marinette, apologetic once more, not that anyone caught on to it save Marinette and Luka, “I’m sorry, I think that I’ve done too much calculating in my head tonight to get the appropriate mathematical response.”

Nodding back Marinette simply said, “I understand, and thanks.”

Alya laughed again, “Just think about it, am I right? Marinette would never let Lila get away with something like that if it meant that she could prove that Lila was lying about something.”

Luka had been quiet and moved his arm to gently drape it over Marinette’s shoulders supportively and then, then he pulled her closer. “Is this okay?” Adrien overheard him whispering to her, “you seem to need it.”

Adrien flexed his free hand into a fist for some reason, wanting to get Luka away from Marinette as the thought ran through his mind, _too close. That’s too close._

_Wait, why does that bother me?_

Marinette nodded and mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to Luka, who only smiled back at her as Nino spoke up.

“Dude, just look, there is like totally no way that Marinette could be Ladybug. I mean if she was, we’d totally all know about it by now, am I right Dudes?” Nino asked from his DJ station.

…

Marinette was blushing as everyone laughed about the possibility that SHE could be Ladybug once more. Eventually, Marinette finally hid herself in Luka’s shoulder from the embarrassment. He hugged her gently from the almost mocking laughter, knowing that there was nothing to say because it was better if people doubted the possibility, not that that fact didn’t hurt the girl beside him despite her choice to try to let people keep believing that there was no way Marinette could be the graceful and heroic Ladybug.

Thankfully, the group finally began to break up as they went off to begin other conversations.

Luka guided Marinette to a spot near the dance floor and they stood close together as Alya and Max were still talking about the possibilities of who else Ladybug could be. Max didn’t have problems coming up with the statistics for others for some reason. Kagami was apparently following that conversation as was Adrien, sort of, since he hadn’t even noticed that Kagami was no longer holding his hand as he kept an eye on his other really good friend and the guy she was standing too close to, Luka.

…

Adrien had thought that it was odd that Max had been trying to bring up random data that seemed to discredit Marinette’s ability to be Ladybug even further when the subject was brought up again.

He was totally thrown for a loop as he struggled with Max’s earlier conclusion that he didn’t completely voice, that even Adrien could see that he was trying to avoid and he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about.

_Was there a way for Marinette, if she was Ladybug, to make it look as if both Marinette as Multimouse and Ladybug were there at the same time when we fought Kwami Buster?_

Adrien wondered if it could be true, _COULD she divert my suspicion of her identity if, if she was her?_ _Marinette probably, no, with the help of magic WOULD definitely be able to do it. _

Then Adrien inwardly proclaimed;_ I KNOW that my Lady could._

_Could that mean, that… that she could be her?_

Without even realizing it, Adrien positioned himself so that he could listen in to Marinette and Luka’s private conversation. He was close enough to the others so at to not look too suspicious. Adrien had been broken out of his thoughts of wondering if Max had a point as he overheard Luka begin to whisper into Marinette’s hair as he comforted their mutual and really really (possibly more than) good friend. Luka obviously thought that only Marinette could hear him, but the snake didn’t know about the cat prowling nearby.

Only Adrien knew that he had miraculous hearing after all and he could definitely overhear the older boy as he whispered to Marinette, “you know, to protect her identity and those that she loves, I would think that Ladybug would let Lila get away with that lie that they’re friends. I mean, it just makes sense. It would be a great diversion. Besides, it would also embarrass Alya too if it came out that she promoted a liar.” Luka chuckled lightly as he bent slightly closer to a now flustered Marinette to tell her earnestly. “I KNOW that you’re just as selfless and heroic as she is in that way, aren’t you Ma-Ma-Marinette?”

Adrien frowned slightly as Luka drew back and softly gazed at the girl in his arms as Adrien silently gasped as he read the hint of the confirmation of who she was right there, but he couldn’t really believe it.

Adrien mentally heard a record screech in his head as all thought came to a stop in his mind as he realized that was something that his Lady definitely would do, no matter how hard it was.

_Marinette is like, no, she really could be Ladybug?! She’d totally let that lie go on to keep her identity safe!_

Adrien managed to hear Marinette swallow nervously, as if Luka had a point and his stomach clenched as Adrien also realized, that maybe his suspicion that he had picked the wrong target, having gone for the obvious and reachable one, being that both his Lady and Marinette didn’t like him like that.

Adrien’s heart sunk even further somehow as he strained his cat like hearing to catch Marinette quietly whisper to Luka, “I’ve…I’ve been avoiding asking you this, not like I can be completely straight about it, but, you-you KNOW don’t you Luka? Somehow you figured me out. I mean, uh, you-you won’t tell anyone, right Luka?”

Adrien’s heart clenched painfully as he watched Luka sidle up to Marinette to hold her and comfort her, as if the action alone was an admission and confirmation of Luka’s loyalty in itself, and what was even worse? Marinette didn’t push him away!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can tell my writing style for this story jumped back into my usual inclusion of 'thoughts' of the primary character of that section. I've been too busy to tide it up without them and it's just easier to include them. I lasted two chapters at least lol. Thanks again for reading!.


	4. What was that?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien listens in to Luka and Marinette's conversation and he hears a bit too much for him to process...

Adrien had just ‘overheard’ Marinette ask if Luka ‘knew’ and then asked him to keep ‘it’ a secret.

_Could she really be Ladybug?_ Adrien wondered. _Am I that blind?_

Luka gently pulled Marinette closer to himself as he whispered to her, “of course not. Even if I did, and that is a purely hypothetical possibility,” he gave her a small little knowing smirk, “it’s not exactly my secret to tell. Besides, it’s not like I KNOW anything for sure, since you haven’t confirmed anything exactly. So, it’s really just an informed guess.”

Adrien had no idea that Luka could be so deceptive intentionally, but in a good way, especially since he was kind of going through a mental crisis right now.

Luka chuckled and went on as suavely as ever, “besides, I’ll always keep your secrets Marinette. The fact that I-I care about you, my Melody, is reason enough to for me to do it. Anything for you after all.”

Marinette looked up at Luka just then and smiled up at him as Adrien pouted, realizing that Luka seemed to believe that yes, she was Ladybug and Marinette wasn’t denying it.

Adrien couldn’t believe what he was seeing when Marinette, his Lady, stood up on her tippy toes and kissed Luka gently on the cheek.

Luka didn’t really blush though, although he looked extremely pleased.

Then Adrien was really blown away when the love of his life confessed something that he had missed to the guy that he was certain that her civilian self had been dating, or something like it, when she said, “I don’t deserve your friendship Luka, you’re too good to me.”

Now Adrien really felt out of the loop, as he could have sworn that Marinette and Luka were more than just really good friends, or at least, more than like he was with Kagami. _I thought that they were together? Not that I’m complaining, but who is it that she loves then?_

Luka shrugged and answered, “well, why don’t you let me be the judge of that? I know I’m not, well, him, I’m me, but I like to think that I’m a pretty nice guy,” he rolled his eyes slightly, catching Adrien’s not so subtle gaze and shooting him a wink that Marinette didn’t see since she was blushing and looking down for some reason as Luka finished, “I mean, I’m not a model of perfection or anything, but just, me.”

Marinette pulled him close in a hug as she whispered back to him. “I-I know that Luka, please don’t tell me that you think that I liked him just because of his looks or status! I, I liked the hidden side of him better,” she sighed slightly, “even though I’m, I’m practically invisible to him. That’s why I’m trying to get over him, I just, it wouldn’t be right to move on until I’m sure I’m ready.”

Adrien wondered who in the world she could be talking about. _That guy has to be the blindest idiot in Paris!_

“Oh, Marinette, I know,” Luka chuckled as he gave her a soft hug, “you’ve been really transparent about it and he, well, let’s just say that I’ve never seen a guy so blind.” Luka looked sad for her as he shook his head at the guy that had missed the love of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, aka, Ladybug. Luka glanced up and caught Adrien’s eye once more as he added, “if it helps, I do think that he’s attracted to you, he just seems to be afraid to admit it to himself, much less out loud.”

_Yep, that guy REALLY is an idiot_. Adrien mentally agreed as he internally moaned. _I should have known, everyone likes Marinette, just like Ladybug, including me! How did I NOT see that?!_

Marinette chuckled, “honestly, I was never able to tell him myself so I guess I get that, it’s just, there’s someone else in his life now and I really need to respect that.”

Luka nodded and looked down at her, “I kind of guessed that was what you were thinking, not that I can blame you. Anyhow, once you’ve thought about it and when you’re ready, I just wanted to remind you that I’d like to see if there could be something more between us, if that’s what you’d like to do, with me I mean.”

Marinette blushed prettily.

A slightly blushing Luka gave Marinette that smitten smile of his, causing Adrien to frown from where he was as he watched them, annoyed that Luka seemed to take a little pleasure in the fact that he knew and yet didn’t try to move away from him. Adrien grew irritated with the older musician as he thought about it_, isn’t he at least a good friend to her? If she’s hiding who she likes from me, wouldn’t she be upset if I was listening in? Why doesn’t he tell her that I’m here and can hear everything?_

“You may not think that you’ve moved on Marinette,” Luka went on, “but you can talk to the guy now without stuttering and honestly, you should probably know that I’ve heard that you never completely lose your first love, so you can’t expect it to go completely away, it just changes a bit.”

“Really?” She looked surprised, “I don’t… I don’t know how I can not love him though.”

_L-Love?!?!_ Adrien fought the gasp that almost escaped him, _she’s been my really good friend for so long, how did I miss that she loved some lucky guy?!_

Luka didn’t hold back, “well you just learn to love them enough to let them do what makes them happy. Maybe it’s about time to look for someone that could harmonize with you?”

Marinette gave that smile, his Lady’s smile, that she had just before he made her laugh. It was the biggest confirmation that he could get. _She is my Lady! How did I not know? _

Marinette giggled slightly for Luka before sadly admitting, “I’ve been learning err, thinking about that, now… now that he’s with h-her.” Marinette swallowed nervously, as Luka reached out and wiped the edge of her eye, to wipe away a tear, presumably.

_Oh. my Lady, who has wronged you so?_ Adrien wondered, his heart breaking for her.

“I know it’s been hard watching them together. It’s going to be okay Marinette. I’m here for you, always.”

_That’s my line!_ Adrien jealously growled mentally and he couldn’t help the angry look that flashed across his face.

Finally, Marinette sniffed and leaned into Luka’s embrace, causing the boy to grin and Adrien to fume a bit more as she told him, “thank you Luka, I know that, now. I just don’t know if I’m ready to try that though, you deserve more than to be a rebound guy. You deserve to be first in some lucky girl’s heart.”

Luka hummed his appreciation as he pulled Marinette closer to him once more since Marinette had been drifting further away as she spoke. “I’d be happy to be first in yours, no matter how it happened. I don’t think that makes me a rebound guy when, uh, I’m sorry it sounds bad, but you do realize that you’ve never been together with him, not like that anyway, right?”

Marinette looked down at the floor and muttered, “yeah.”

_Wait, Ladybug said that there was another boy, but did she mean that she just had a crush and hadn’t told him? It-it sounded like l-love. I thought I was close enough to Marinette to know about who she liked, I just thought it was Luka? But I was wrong, Maybe?_ Adrien thought painfully because he was drawing a blank on who else she could like so he jumped to another impossible conclusion because his world was not making sense at the moment, _maybe she isn’t Ladybug? _

Thinking that Marinette just might not be Ladybug hurt somehow, because it just felt so right and true that she was.

_Why does my heart ache when I try to think about her not being Ladybug though? It’s like now that I’ve thought about it, I-I can’t deny it!_

“I don’t mind waiting, as long as I think I have a chance.” Luka freely admitted.

Marinette tried to giggle as she patted Luka’s shoulder supportively, “you’re so wonderful Luka, but honestly, I really think that I might I need some time to just be myself and learn to deal with, well, with something big that involves that other thing.”

“Something we can’t discuss, got it.” He nodded in that understanding way of his. “As for the other thing, please don’t think that I’m trying to pressure you, I wanted to let you know that I’m interested and how wonderful you are, I’m happy as long as you’re happy, whether that means we’re friends or maybe something more, someday.”

_Not if I have anything to say about it_. Adrien thought with irritation blindly, _but if Luka can’t capture her heart, what chance do I have? She’s Marinette after all!_

“Thank you, Luka,” Marinette told the boy in front of her with a blush and a small smile, “I appreciate your honesty.”

“Always.” Luka smiled at her and she sighed as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear for her, “and it’s not just because you’re the prettiest, smartest and sweetest girl I’ve ever met either.”

Marinette of course blushed and became flustered for a moment of course.

Adrien couldn’t help but feel weird about their interaction nearby. He just didn’t know what the feeling the he was feeling was. _Luka is smooth, but Chat is smoother and I’m Chat! Why is this happening?_

“So, so thank you again for being here to support me though and f-for being you.” Marinette told Luka with her usual stutter and Adrien’s heart ached.

_Maybe I’ll get the chance to comfort her over the blind guy?_ Adrien hoped.

“It’s my pleasure, as always.” Luka nodded at her and smiled before he added in a whisper. “I don’t mind waiting until you know you’re ready for sure you know, you’re amazing and you’re worth it.”

_Back off._ Adrien’s mind almost hissed_, you’ve had your chance! My Princess!_

Adrien took a step back, having startled himself at how strongly he felt about Luka trying to win Marinette’s heart_. He’s not far from it, it’s just, if only I’d known! Ladybug is amazing, but add in the fact that she’s Marinette? She’s somehow even more, well, everything!_

Marinette smiled up at Luka as she softly answered, the blush almost permanent on her face, “thanks, you-you don’t know how much that means to me. Having you here for me since well, everyone was revealed and all, it’s meant so-so much to me. This party remembering what was hasn’t been easy, and you being here helps. You’re so wonderful yourself, I don’t know what I’d do without you Luka.”

_Oh, my Lady, I didn’t realize how much this affected you too._ Adrien mentally apologized, _I’ll try to do better and be there for you, if you’ll let me._

“I’ll be here however you need me to be Marinette, you will always be my Melody.” Luka gave her a slight squeeze, “no matter what happens.”

Marinette sighed, “Thank you Luka. I really do appreciate it.” Then she patted his arm reassuringly, “but I’ll be alright.”

Luka asked, “of course you will be, you’re so strong and brave Marinette, I have no doubt that you could handle anything you put your mind to. So, just to change the subject, shall we dance?” Luka waved to the tiny dance floor and Marinette nodded, allowing him to lead her the few steps over to it.

Then Luka held up his hand for Marinette to take it, but she shook her head no, wrapping her hands behind his neck instead and pulled herself closer to a very pleased Luka who respectfully put his hands on her waist and leaned over so she could lean on his shoulder as they danced, closing their eyes and almost hugging one another during the slow song that had just started.

It was a familiar tune, and Adrien didn’t know why it made him feel so sad. He wanted to dance with Marinette, _she's the only girl that could be more than our actual Ladybug after all._

Adrien sighed as he turned around to return to the earlier conversation that he had been ignoring with his other friends since he didn’t want to watch Marinette, his Lady, dance with another guy.

Adrien allowed himself to remember that he had escorted Kagami as a friend to the party after all and it wouldn’t be right to ignore her, _maybe I'll be able to take my mind off of the mystery of Marinette’s idiot crush if I focused on Kagami instead, maybe?_

Of course, Adrien was startled to find her standing right there next to him as he turned around, watching him.

“Kagami!” Adrien whispered, surprised at her appearance, “how, how long have you been there?”


	5. The Last Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagami talks to Adrien and Adrien has a decision to make, leading to a dance with a certain dark haired beauty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beware, long chapter ahead! 4600+ words, I just couldn't stop... hope you like it!

Kagami had been standing behind Adrien for a few minutes, watching him watch the girl that he claimed was ‘just a friend.”

Kagami may not know much about relationships, but she knew that THAT wasn’t how you looked at “just a friend.”

_Clearly he’s unaware of his feelings for Marinette. Still, I fought valiantly, but how can I win against that?_ Kagami painfully admitted to herself as she thought about the situation as she watched Adrien for another minute or two. _He really doesn’t realize that he likes her, does he? Even if she’s with Luka._

After a minute or so she realized that Marinette wasn’t as forward with her dancing companion as Luka was. _I wonder what that means? _

“Kagami.” Adrien had turned around and whispered, breaking her out of her musing, “how, how long have you been there?”

Kagami gave Adrien a steady look before admitting to him, “just long enough to see you watching Marinette dancing with her boyfriend.”

Adrien swallowed and blushed slightly as she went on, “which leads me to another thing that I need to talk you about Adrien. Are you jealous of him?” She nodded towards Marinette and Luka dancing together.

“From the looks of it, you are.” She stated almost sadly, but she managed to remain calm.

_I know now that Adrien isn’t committed to me like that, he didn’t seem to want to kiss me after all._ She sighed after coming to that conclusion, _it still it hurts though._

Adrien couldn’t meet her eyes as he brushed the back of his neck with his hand nervously as he almost muttered back, “they-they’re not together Kagami, not like that.”

Kagami tilted her head as she tried to read him as she asked him in her direct way, “how do you know that Adrien, did you ask them?”

Adrien bit his lip for a moment, “umm, no. I-I overheard them talking and while Luka really seems to like Marinette like that, she, she seems to be pining over someone else? I have no idea who the lucky blind guy could be though.”

_Lucky huh? Are you even aware of what you just said? I’m beginning to question my own sanity falling for you Adrien, you are so blind to your own feelings._

Kagami gave him a small shake of her head before looking out at the dance floor once more, as Luka and Marinette danced together cozily.

_They do look comfortable together, but Luka isn’t her first choice, is he? _

Kagami she looked over at Adrien who looked away from them once more, pained somehow.

_Adrien does care about me doesn’t he? He seems, embarrassed by this conversation. _

_He only sees me as a really good friend, hmm. _

Nodding slightly to herself, she eased her bruised heart as she told herself, _I will not be petty. I am strong, determined and Kagami Tsurugi. I would rather have Adrien in my life as a good friend than not at all, and if I am to accomplish that, first I need to be a good friend to him first._

She waited a minute more before she simply commented, “you know, you still haven’t answered my question Adrien.”

He looked at her hesitantly, “oh?”

“Are you jealous?” She nodded towards Marinette, “do you want to be the one holding her like that?”

Adrien froze and she could see him considering what he could possibly say that would be the right answer for her.

_Oh Adrien, you don’t have to pretend to feel something that you don’t with me. I care about you and we don’t have to be more than friends for that. I realize that, now._

It took all of Kagami’s self-control to softly add without malice, not that she was jealous like that exactly, but still the situation stung as she noted quietly, “do you want to hold her, like, like you’re not holding me?”

…

Adrien heard the sadness in her voice, knowing that she had been wanting more from their relationship and he hadn’t felt right in moving past just being really good friends and moving on to the point where they kissed each other, like, like she had been wanting him to.

Adrien frowned as he found himself admitting, “Kagami, it’s not that I don’t like you, I do, it’s just…”

“You don’t like me like that,” Kagami almost sighed, getting to the heart of the matter as she always did. She always liked to make her point.

“Adrien, I understand. I’ve fought a good fight, but somehow, I still lost the match, didn’t I? You love Marinette.” She stated it almost as if it was fact that she couldn’t, no, wouldn’t deny.

Adrien glanced out at the dance floor, to see Luka smiling softly as he held a slightly blushing Marinette in his arms. They both had their eyes closed as they just enjoyed being together.

Adrien’s shoulders slumped and he managed to stumble over his, “I-I don’t know. She just seems to be so happy with him Kagami. How, how can I try to interrupt that? She’s trying to move on from some blind idiot and of course she turns to Luka.” He almost said spitefully, “she knows he likes her and he’ll be there for her and I’m… I’m just her friend.”

Adrien’s heart clenched at the admission of that fact, as it hurt more than anything he’d ever felt, even more than being catacylsmed. Adrien unfortunately would know about that.

Kagami huffed regally, “I may have had to admit defeat in the fight for your heart Adrien, but I’d like to still consider us friends.” She gave him a wry smile.

Adrien smiled softly back at her with a confused look on his face, “I’d like to do that too Kagami.”

“Good, and as your friend, I suggest that you don’t throw in the towel before the match begins and get yourself over there and ask her for the next dance.” Kagami insisted before she added in a softer tone as she patted his shoulder supportively, “Marinette may hesitate when it comes to her heart, but that doesn’t mean that you have to as well.”

Then Kagami gave him a genuine smile, “you and I are far too much alike that way, when we decide on something, we go all in. Well, I’m telling you that you NEED to go ask her for a dance, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” Then she gave him a small encouraging smile.

Adrien nodded with a grin. “Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you alone, I mean, uh, only if you insist.”

“I do. Now get over there, I’ll go and ask Nino to play something sweet for you.”

“You’re the best Kagami, I-I’m sorry that it didn’t work out between us.”

“I know.” She chuckled as she gave him a gentle shove, “I know you’re not sorry though, or at least you won’t be, but you’re both my friends and I want to see you both happy. Now, get yourself over there before Luka makes a move that steals her away and sweeps her off her feet forever.”

“I’m going, th-thanks Kagami, you really are a great friend.” Adrien almost tripped as he turned to find Luka and Marinette before the next song got started.

Behind him, he could just barely make it out when Kagami sighed as she whispered, “I know. Good luck Adrien.”

…

After Kagami had pushed him to do it, Adrien was now standing behind Luka as he tapped his shoulder to interrupt his dance with Marinette.

“May I have this dance?” Adrien interrupted and asked the other young man as the slow song that was playing started to came to a close. Luka turned Marinette so that they could both look at Adrien and he let her answer for them.

Marinette gave him a small smile and a nod, “if-if Luka doesn’t mind.”

Luka shrugged, “of course not.” Then he grinned as he let of Marinette as he turned, and then grabbed Adrien’s hand, “I’ll lead.”

Marinette laughed as Adrien stuttered, “I-I mean…”

“I know, I’m just teasing you, although you have no idea what you’re missing out on.” Luka told him kindly with a chuckle of his own before pulling him close enough to whisper as he danced a few steps with him anyway, “she needed the laugh. Just, just promise me that you’ll be good to her? I-I want her to be happy.” Luka leaned away and gave Adrien a concerned smile with a raised eyebrow showing a touch of worry on his usually stoic face.

Adrien gave Luka a surprised look, but then he smiled softly and nodded as he finally understood, Luka would only be happy if he knew that Marinette was going to be happy.

“I will.” Adrien promised.

Which is how Adrien wound up asking Marinette for her next dance. Luka gently told her goodnight and thanked her for the dance and for her company, but decided that he would be going home early.

Which left her alone with Adrien.

…

This time when they danced, Adrien held Marinette at a respectable distance at first, not knowing what to say since so much was racing through his mind.

“What’s… what’s wrong A-Adrien?” Marinette finally asked him worriedly after nearly a minute.

_How did I not notice how she always seems to know how I’m feeling?_ He pondered as he noticed the similarities between herself and possibly, herself. _Only my Lady could do that._

Adrien swallowed as he pulled her a little closer as he bent down and whispered so that only she could hear him, “I’m trying to decide whether I got the cream or if I should let some information climb back into the bag…”

She looked up at him in confusion, “huh?”

“I don’t think I could deny it for very long if I tried, especially with everything that has happened and how… how I think that you need me? Especially now. Do you need me my, uh, my Lady?”

“My… my Lady?” Marinette stuttered before she understood and whispered back, “Chaton?”

Adrien looked into her eyes with his soft Chat like grin as he gave her a subtle nod, “Bug.”

She swallowed, took a breath and exhaled slowly before she finally settled on plastering on a wry grin, “you, you know that I’ll always need you Kitty. We’re a team, aren’t we?”

“The best.” Adrien replied with a smile, “and as I understand it, you’re the one in charge now, so you make the rules. We can keep our miraculous now that we know, if that’s what you want.”

“Of, of course, it is!” She huffed, “we just need to be careful.” She seemed to need to think for a minute and Adrien just enjoyed dancing with her as she began to connect the spots, err, dots.

Then Marinette groaned a little as she rolled her eyes, “I can’t believe how blind I was!”

“You’re not the only one, and we will be careful.” He promised with a chuckle, “I’ll do anything to protect you, you know.”

She blushed slightly and whispered, “I know.”

“Good, because you’re worth it.”

Marinette deflated a little before sighing and shaking her head as they kept dancing as she realized something else, “wait, no, this, this isn’t a good place to talk about this. You’re here with Kagami and… and,” her eyes shot up and she almost glared at him, “you just scared away Luka, didn’t you?!”

Adrien shook his head, “did he looked scared?” She took a moment to think about it before she shook her head no before he asked, “and would it surprise you that Kagami sent me over here AND that Luka told me just now to be good to you?”

Marinette looked surprised, “but, but you’re with Kagami! She’ll be so upset and… and I don’t want to hurt her.” She finished softly.

“We’re not together anymore than you and Luka are together.” Adrien told her gently as he nodded towards Kagami, who had stopped Luka on his way out and they seemed to be having a nice conversation together. “I’ll admit that Kagami and I are close, but it didn’t feel right to be in a romantic relationship with her.”

“R-really?” Marinette stuttered.

“Yeah,” Adrien blushed a little, “I always had a certain Lady on my mind that I couldn’t forget and, and a good friend that I was trying to keep that way to be honest, although as I understand it, umm, we weren’t that close on this side of the mask, which honestly has always bothered me Marinette. I’ve always wanted to be closer to you, but I couldn’t be for some reason.”

Marinette blushed a little and bit her lip, unable to reply.

“Sooooo,” Adrien drawled, “I was wondering, was there a reason that you’ve been so uncomfortable around me?”

“Not like, in a bad way.” Marinette hummed carefully as she recognized the worry on his face, “I was nervous and anxious maybe. I get that way when I, um, when I think too much about something or-or about someone important to me?”

Adrien nodded but then shook his head a little as he admitted, “I don’t really understand, but it’s okay. I was just afraid that you might not like me?”

“Far from it.” She whispered as she glanced away for a moment and blushed.

“Oh?” He gave her a questioning but happy look as he leaned closer. “Really?”

“Yeah.” She swallowed and repeated herself, “yeah.”

“Oh! So, so you do like me? Adrien me, as a friend?” He asked happily.

“A bit more than that, you silly cat.” She told him sarcastically in a hushed voice.

“Really?!” Then he lowered his voice and asked almost seductively, “does that mean that I have a chance Milady?” He purred.

She looked away and covered up a fake cough, trying to clear up her blush, “maybe.”

“Purr-fect.” He hummed.

“So, uh, what does that m-make us?” Marinette hesitated.

Adrien shrugged, “well, that depends, are you ready to give up on that boy you were crushing on and give this cat a chance?”

Then he gave her a wink as she looked at him blankly, astonished that he still didn’t know!

…

Luka and Kagami were standing side by side watching their respective crushes find each other.

“Care to dance?” Luka finally asked her, holding out his hand.

Kagami nodded as she took his hand with her own, “I would like a nice memory to make this evening worthwhile.”

Luka nodded, “well, getting to know your song better has been a lovely bonus for me tonight, definitely unexpected.”

“Thank you.” She blushed slightly and Luka smiled at her as he led her to another spot on the dance floor and they began to dance.

“So, do you think they’ll figure out how much they were made for each other?” Luka commented softly a minute later, not missing the fact that they both would glance over to watch Adrien and Marinette as they danced, “their songs complement each other and make such a lovely harmony.”

Kagami smiled and chuckled at his comparison as she shook her head, “only if Marinette can tell him directly, he’s so smitten with her and he really doesn’t realize that the feeling is reciprocated.”

“Which is why we may be in for a long wait.” Luka smiled a little, “which is ironic really, since she gets so nervous around him, she has a hard time expressing herself. I believe in her though, she’ll tell him, when she’s ready.”

“I know,” Kagami almost giggled, “he’ll probably tell her that he thinks he likes her and then ask her if she might like him that way.” Then she closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, “I hope they figure it out soon, I don’t think I could handle them avoiding the obvious for long. It makes me feel like I should have tried harder or that I had more of a chance than I did.”

Luka nodded, “I know, I feel the same way. They’ll figure it out. Just remember Kagami, knowing them means that we got to know each other.” He cleared his throat a little and managed to ask, “would, would you like to join me for some hot cocoa? We could commiserate together more or just get to know each other better and then I could escort you home if you would like.”

Kagami smiled up at him as she halted their dance, took his hand and tugged him towards the door, “I’d like that. Let’s go.”

Luka chuckled half-heartedly, “I love it when a girl knows what she wants.”

“Then prepare yourself, because when I want something I go after it, and I’d like to get to know you better Mr. Rockstar.”

Luka grinned at the nickname and flirted, “be careful where you aim your blade mademoiselle, you may just might strike my heart.”

“I may be amenable to that.” She gave him a sly grin as they slipped away from the party.

…

Back with Adrien and Marinette, Marinette was still trying to piece things together and not have a melt down.

_He still has no idea, does he?_ Marinette’s mind thought immediately. _Now I don’t feel so bad for not recognizing him. _

They heard a low snort come from Adrien’s shirt pocket and Marinette saw Plagg peek out of it as he groaned, “kid, you figured out that she’s her and you don’t know THAT?! Ugh, I’ll have to ask Fu for a new holder.”

“Plagg!” Adrien hissed, glancing around to make sure they hadn’t been overheard, thankfully the music was loud and there was no one else nearby. Then he realized that a little voice came from Marinette’s bag that said his kwami’s name at the same time as he did.

“He’s just SO clueless!” Plagg whined softly.

“Well, so is my girl when you think about it.” Tikki quietly giggled, peeking out of Marinette’s bag, and giving Adrien a little wave.

“Tikki! No!” Marinette whisper shrieked.

“Don’t you try and hide it Pigtails, I’ll introduce him to the guy you like if you don’t.” Plagg whisper threatened, “my cheese is going bad from all of this mush after all! Let’s get it over with.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Marinette whispered at Plagg, making it look like she was talking to Adrien’s armpit.

“Watch me.” Plagg muttered before turning to face Adrien as best as he could from his pocket, “come on kid, you need to go fix your hair or something and look in the mirror.”

Marinette pouted and whined, “Plagg!”

“The mirror? Is my hair messed up?” Adrien looked up at Marinette in confusion as the song finally changed and they came to a halt from dancing automatically.

Tikki giggled softly, “your hair is fine Adrien.”

Adrien looked thoughtful, “then why?”

“No kid, you don’t get it, you NEED to go look in the mirror. I have someone I want to introduce you to.” Plagg sassily replied.

“Huh?”

Marinette huffed, blushing furiously as she grabbed Adrien’s hand and led him outside to the miraculously empty balcony.

_Why me?_ Marinette wondered as she tugged her grinning crush to a more private location.

…

“Why does Plagg want me to look… in… the… mirror.” Adrien’s eyes grew in astonishment. “NOooo.”

Then Adrien’s smile grew into one of the biggest smiles that Marinette had ever seen on Chat Noir as he looked so happy as he whispered, “I’m the blind idiot!”

“I’m glad that you’ve caught up now Kitty.” Marinette used her Ladybug voice and Adrien’s grin grew tenfold somehow despite himself. “So, I’m guessing that you overheard me talking with Luka?”

“Sorry, I have miraculous hearing? I couldn’t help it.” Adrien offered with a shrug despite his megawatt smile as he griped her hand like a lifeline. “So, what now?”

Marinette took a breath and steadied herself, “well, now I-I think that we should try to take things really, really slow.”

“How slow? Just friends forever or… or working towards a house with three kids and a hamster?” Adrien grinned at the idea with hope shining in his eyes as he stepped into her personal space and waggled his eyebrows at her.

Marinette blushed furiously and almost grabbed him and kissed him, but then she remembered something and stepped back, waving her hands ‘no’ a little as she forced herself to stay calm.

“I’m worried about taking this too quickly, A-Adrien.”

“Why/ I love you, you like me, or is it the cat ears?” Adrien visibly drooped as he felt like she was pushing him away again.

“NO! No.” Marinette took a deep breath, “absolutely not. If anything, that makes me like you more.” She giggled, “It’s just, there’s something you don’t know.”

“Well, tell me, then we can ride off into the sunset together Bugaboo.”

“Don’t call me Bugaboo.” She told him automatically, “at least not um, yeah, we’ll figure it out.”

Adrien folded his arms and nodded in agreement, “I can keep that one for when we’re wearing the mask if it helps.”

“Yeah,” Marinette twiddled her fingers, “that, that would be good.”

“I knew you liked it.” He smirked and almost purred because she wasn’t pushing him away again.

“Well, no, you’ve just worn me down with that, it’s something else.” Marinette replied nervously.

He took her hands lovingly, “then please tell me, I want to help you Princess.”

She rolled her eyes, “well, it’s not pleasant.”

“Well, we can handle anything together,” he leaned down and whispered to her, “please tell me what’s bothering you.”

Marinette blushed again as she pulled away enough to wave her hands once more nervously, “w-well, let’s just say that I had an interesting afternoon with Bunnix once when I delivered that hat I made you with the heart on it.”

He grinned, “I should have realized, that was very thoughtful of you. Thank you.”

“Y-you’re welcome.”

He leaned in to nuzzle her cheek and she pushed him back with a finger to his nose.

She sighed, “no Kitty, you need to listen, for some reason, somehow the first time that happened, you figured out my identity from that. Which I think may have led to us dating as our civilian selves, but also to you being akumatized, asking for my earrings and destroying the world.” She waved her hands up as she made her point.

“D-destroying the world?” Adrien looked shocked.

“Yep.” Marinette popped the word out as she looked around for Bunnix, “well Paris at least, and she’s not here yet, so maybe this was supposed to happen now? I’ll admit though that I’ll feel better about it after I’ve had a proper freak out at home and wake up finding out that this wasn’t a dream.”

Adrien chuckled, “yeah, I’m kind of going into shock here myself on the inside, I’m so happy, but I think you should know that there is no one and nobody that could keep me away from you.” He admitted as he decided to be cautious as he leaned down, placing his forehead against her own as he decided to go slowly as he whispered, “ you know, I, I really like you Marinette, as more than a friend.”

“Me, me too.” She almost squeaked. “I mean, I really like you, not me, like that! Ugh, this feels like a dream come true, and I’m messing it up.”

“Far from it.” He whispered.

Marinette almost whined before she quietly answered, “I should probably ask Tikki to pinch me.”

“Okay.” A little voice said.

Which of course resulted in Marinette jumping back and exclaiming, “ouch! Tikki! I didn’t mean that!”

“Then don’t say things like that.” Tikki shrugged as she darted into Adrien’s pocket and pulled out Plagg. “On the other paw, Stinky Sock and I will go and try to sneak some snacks, I saw that they had cookies and a cheese tray.”

“Sugarcube, you know the way to my heart,” Plagg sighed before he waved to their wielders as he quickly floated off with Tikki behind him. “See you later kids!”

“We won’t be gone long!” Tikki called back before they disappeared.

“That kwami.” Marinette shook her head at her friend.

“She is something, Although I’ll admit she seems to be more behaved than Plagg.”

“She’s as sweet as the cookies she eats.”

“My life is so unfair, Plagg only eats stinky cheese.” Adrien shook his head and Marinette giggled a little.

Adrien waited for a few moments before he grinned at Marinette before adding, “soooo how can I convince you that this wasn’t a dream? That we really are here and we are who we are?” He leaned into her personal space again, “should I give you something to remember me by?” He wagged his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Marinette pushed him away by the nose again, “nope. We’re not going there just yet, mistakes happen when you go too fast and, and I want us to get to know each other as all of ourselves, be friends and then go from there, if, if you’d like that?” She finished hesitantly.

Adrien sighed as he leaned back and smiled at her softly, “anything to make you happy Bugaboo. So, does that mean that we don’t send out the wedding announcements until what, next week or next month?”

She gently slugged his arm, “that is NOT taking it slow. How about we discuss the whole us dating thing over the next week, spend a little time together and then go from there? We-we need to get to know each other better first, until we know for sure?”

Adrien grinned with a happy chuckle, “I can live with that, since I know that it’s progress and it’ll make you happy, although I doubt there’d be any reason for me to change my mind, you being well, you, you’ve just made things even more amazing.”

“Oh, uh, thanks, it’s just so much has been changing lately and, and I need some time to adjust and, and I don’t want what happened last time to happen again.” Marinette bit her lip and looked uncertain.

“Hey, don’t you worry now.” He tried to reassure her, “remember, we’re in this together and now that I know, I can be there for you to help you and I can be more prepared for any flying me.” He reached up to the butterfly hair decoration that Alya and snuck into his hair earlier. She giggled at him.

“So back to the basics, it’s us against the world.” Adrien declared.

Marinette giggled, “as always.”

“Good, so now that’s decided,” Adrien leaned over with a slight smirk, and gave her a gentle but meaningful kiss on the cheek, causing Marinette to turn bright red. He chuckled as he leaned back, rpid of himself, “you better get used to that Purr-incess, I’m like a cat and I like getting up close and purr-sonal.”

“I’m doomed, aren’t I?” Marinette muttered. “Puns for the rest of my life.”

“Isn’t it pun-derful?” He asked wistfully.

“Chat!” Marinette quietly whined. “Don’t ruin the moment.”

He laughed gently and pulled her closer wearing a big grin in almost a hug as he began dancing with her again, “I don’t think that anyone could. We’re together now and I’m not letting you go.”

“Not like I’d try to stop you.” Marinette whispered.

“Meow~, I can get used to that!” Adrien grinned happily.

“Adrien!”

They both leaned back a little and then they just laughed, happy that now they could work together, first as friends and partners and then maybe as something more…

~ fin ~

**Author's Note:**

> This story came to me after thinking about the holiday of Dia De Los Muertos, I hope I gave Alya's spin on it a decent representation that a teenager could put together of it instead of an actual Halloween party. As far as I know, it's a holiday mostly celebrated in Mexico and here in the southwestern USA (and it overlaps Halloween here too) and it is more serious but also more connecting yourself with your family and the past etc.


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